Animosity or altruism, the choice is yours. These two contrasting concepts describe the different attitudes in society today. One can harbor animosity towards anyone who thinks differently than they do. They can have these strong feelings of hatred and ill will which manifests resentment and hostility towards people who don’t share the same beliefs. Or one can show altruism by cultivating selfless behaviors that strive to help one another and simply speak kind words instead of condemning words. Yes, we can agree to disagree without animosity.

I believe we all should strive to live by the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you.” Yet every year I watch our world become more aggressive and show so much animosity towards each other that it physically makes me sick. I open up social media posts where many people that I know and do business with on a daily basis spout offensive statements at anyone who thinks differently than they do. The very act of their animosity is so powerful that it pulls others into the same hostility and threatens humanity as a whole.

The world has changed so much since I was a child. Sometimes I don’t even recognize it anymore. People used to care more about each other. They cared for their neighbors and watched out for their loved ones and friends, but now there seems to be so much animosity that it truly scares me. People don’t care about anyone but themselves. And people believe that they can say whatever they like, especially on social media, and get away with it.

Just this week as some people exercised their right to protest, others with opposite views attacked them verbally on social media, making horrible statements, like “free hood ornaments” (indicating that they should be run over or hit by a vehicle), while others called them “idiots” because they have a different opinion. As I read thread after thread of ugly statements from people I know personally, I literally wanted to puke. I finally had to turn off my phone to pray as I cried, “God, what do You even think of all of us? How do we even claim to love America when we can’t even love our neighbors? How do we say we are God-fearing individuals when hatred and hostility are all we speak? Dear Lord, why do we think we are better than anybody else? How do You even stomach the stench of self-righteousness that comes up in Your nostrils when not one is righteous but You? We show no compassion, no mercy, no concern for our fellow man. Yet we claim to know You? How does anyone claim to know You with hatred in their heart? For You are LOVE! God, forgive us for our arrogance, our sense of superiority and our prideful ways.”

Though I may not agree with everyone’s political views or religious views or even personal views, I will still choose altruism over animosity any day. I will choose kindness over meanness. I will choose LOVE over hate because I do know Him personally, and I refuse to bow to the repulsiveness of this world.

My grandfathers didn’t fight for this country to watch it self-implode only a few generations later. My daddy didn’t die in vain trying to plant seeds of kindness into every soul he ever met. And my mama didn’t raise a “cry baby” but she did raise a “prayer warrior” who isn’t afraid to cry out to God to have mercy on all our souls, especially on those who continue to choose animosity over altruism.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus actually rebukes his disciple for drawing a sword and then states that those who use violence will suffer the consequences of violence. This is why we must show love one for one another.

1 Corinthians 13 states: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

“Love never fails…” Animosity is about harming others, while altruism is about helping them. So I choose to have love for my fellow mankind, even those who look different than me, act differently than me and think differently than me. I choose to make a positive difference in my community and country, even when surrounded by negativity.

Perhaps Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best: “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

Animosity or altruism, the choice is yours, my friend. I pray you choose wisely.